UDC 351.8/l +625. 7:347.235.JJ 
C AS1, 
PROCED.URES SI <'""'1 ~ u 
F R THE AC lJISITI ~! OF 
REAL ES1,L4.TE If~ ROAIJ 
CO ST CTI 
MAN E ENT 
Ahmet Kalač 
Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of 
Slovenia, Maribor Regional Geodetic Adminislration 
Received for publication: 7 November 1996 
Prepared forpublication: 7 November 1996 
Abstract 
In the first part of the paper, the problems of the acquisition 
of land which in the past was used for lhe construction of 
roads are discussed. It is established !hat the legal-property 
s/atlls of this land is not well-ordered and that land-cadastre 
records are not in agreement with land-register records, and 
neither of them re;?ects the actual situatio11 in the field. The 
second part presents a new met hod of work of the swveying 
service in the preparation of documentation and purclwse of 
land. Digital cadastral maps for wider areas are set up and 
new cadastral surveys are performed for narrower 
road-conidor areas. Sile documentation and other cadastral 
docwnentation for the purchase of land are prepared on this 
basis. 
Keywords: acquisition of real estates, land cadastre 
procedures, land purchases, legal standing of properly, road 
construction, road management, road nelwork 
LJEGAL-PROPERTY STATUS OF THE. PR.ESEN1r' ROAJD NETWORK 
The construction and reconstruction of roads and other infrastructure objects were not always followed by appropria_te procedures for the regulation of 
legal-property rnatters, so parcels near roads as recorded in the Janci register and the 
land cadastre mostly do not correspond to the actual situation, either in their shape 
or form. In many areas, data is stili kept which was valid prior to the construction of 
roads. The legal-property status of parccls used for road constrnction is therefore 
uncertain for a few thousand kilometres of roads. 
Geodetski vestnik 40 (1996) 4 
I nvestors in road construction have acquired land: 
• on the basis of the Lav.✓ on Expropriation and Compulsory Transfer of Rights 
to Use, 
• pursuant to the Law on Dcvelopment Land, 
• through ordinary purchase contracts, 
• through advance-payment purchase contracts, 
• through statcments and approvals of owners allowing the constrnction of 
roads on their land. 
In cases in which entire parcels wcre acquired for road construction, final purchase 
contracts were conduded. These were entered into the land register and land 
cadastre under the condition that they contained detailed land-cadastre data on 
parcels and that a proposal for entry into the land register was enclosed. In most 
cases, advance-payment preliminary purchase contracts were concluded for parts of 
parcels with approximate estimates of the area to be purchased. 
After the completion of road construction, fina! contracts were to be made on the basis of surveys and preparation of other cadastral documentation on 
expropriation. After the completion of road construction, surveys werc performed for 
many roads, but final contracts were not concluded and therefore this data was not 
entered in the land register and land cadastre. The investor constructed the roads, 
but did not completely fulfil their obligations. Their general excuse was insufficient 
funds and personnel; in addition, they were not forced to conclude appropriate 
documents by legal regulations for the keeping of thc land register. 
Land for road construction was acquired by expropriation only in exceptional cases. This was partially a consequence of the desire to solve the problem of road 
construction through mutual agreements. In a greater number of cases, it resulted 
from poor and hastily prepared execution documentation which did not enable a 
legal demonstration of puhlic interest which is the basis of expropriation. These 
procedures are time-consuming in thcir nature, and investors usually avoidcd them to 
speed up construction. However, accurate data on surveys, cadastral designations and 
transfer of ownership rights were available for land acquired through cxpropriation, 
and entries into thc land register and land cadastre were actually performed. The 
statements of approval of the owners were acquired above all for local and regional 
roads. Some owners even ceded their land without compensation. The then-cxistent 
road and puhlic utilities communities, communes and local communities undertook 
to ensure the execution of cadastral surveys and entries into the land register. 
However, in most cases this did not happen. Roads wcre constructed or 
reconstructed, but legal-property matters were not arranged. 
ccording to data of branch offices of regional geodetic administrations for 1995, 
approximately 40 000 km of roads, above ali municipal roads, were not 
surveyed. Approximately 500 road sections were surveyed and other cadastral 
documentation on expropriation were made, but they were not entered into the land 
cadastre and land register, because purchase contracts were not concluded with all 
affected owncrs at that tirne. Pursuant to the provisions of the new Law on the land 
register from 1995 (the law provides that the writing-off of land parcels which was 
used for road construction prior to the adoption of the Law on the land register shall 
Geodetski vestnik 40 ( 1996) 4 
be permitted regardless of their value ), the entry of already preparcd other cadastral 
documentation into land register would now stili be possible. Thc cmrent situation 
regarding data in the land cadastre would first need to be harmonized with the land 
register, the cadastral surveys of already constructed roads would then have to be 
performed, and other cadastral documentation on expropriation would have to be 
prepared. Naturally, communes would have to provide the funds for this regulation 
of legal-property matters for municipal roads, and the state for sta te roads. 
he expropriation of roads and preparation of other cadastral documentation 
involve professional-technical field work (marking-out of roadways in the 
presence of owners, surveys) and preparation of other cadastra! documentation and 
information sheets in which the areas of parts of parcels used for the road are 
presented. The investor should submit the information sheets together with other 
documents (purchase contracts and land-cadastre proposals) to the land register for 
entry. Thc following two problems appear during the execution of this work and 
preparation of other cadastral documentation: 
o roads mainly run through areas which are covered by plane table survey maps 
in which boundaries must be cstablished according to their course in nature, 
in the presence of owners. However, boundary markers betvveen individual 
parcels have been destroyed due to road construction, and the location of 
property boundaries is in doubt due to the inaccuracy of cadastral maps at 
the 1:2 880 scale. Disputes arose which were often solved in court procedures. 
• In cases when marking-out is performed, other cadastral documentation on 
expropriation is prepared, the areas of parts of parcels used for roads are 
calculated and public inspection of cadastral documents by the owners is 
performed in accordance with cadastral regulations, individual owncrs often 
filcd complaints regarding the area of parcels used for roads. These disputes 
have to be solved prior to entry into the land register and land cadastre. 
The procedure proved in practice to be time-consuming, since a complaint by one of 
the parcel owners prevented the entry of ali othcr used parcels of other owners 
within one cadastral commune. For this reason, the method for the preparation of 
other cadastral documentation on expropriation was changed in 1992 such that each 
part of parcels which was used for the road would be considered separately and 
decisions on them would be prepared in the same manner as for ordinary division 
into parcels. 
GEODETIC LEGAL-PROPER1Y PROCEDURES IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW 
HllGHWAYS 
Por new in~rastructure ~bjects, ~spe~ially highways, different solutio~s were prepared m the surveymg serv1ce. 1 hese have enabled the complex1ty and 
correctness of preparation of other cadastral documentation on expropriation, or a 
higher accuracy of determining land-cadastre parcels which will be used for roads. In 
the first phase, digital cadastral maps (DCMs) will be set up for ali planned road 
routes on the basis of cadast:rnl maps valid at present. The setting up of DCivl:s 
comprises the analogue conversion of existing data, control of their harmonization 
with the attribute part, topological control and transformation in the state coordinate 
Geodetski vestnik 40 (1996) 4 
system. DCJ,!J:s are set up for a wider road corridor, i.e. they comprise all cadastral 
communes in the road corridor to make up for the use of poorly maintained and 
outdated index diagrams of cadastral maps. DOv'Is enabie optimal unification of data 
and simple use in ali GIS tools, which makes the harmonization of land-cadastre and 
topological data easier. With this new approach, the surveying service has assumed 
the responsibility for the completeness and correctness of land-cadastre data and has 
begun replacing cadastral maps with DCMs. 
-rn the second phase of preparatory work for the acquisition of real estate, new 
=surveys of land are performed in road corridors in areas which are covered by 
plane table survey maps. It was established in the first part of this paper that existing 
cadastral rnaps are not reliable in terms of location, that the land cadastre records 
are not harmonized with the land register recorcls, that different coordinate systems 
of maps are used and that areas of parcels are inaccurate, and that other legal 
procedures havc not been perfornned (forming of subdivisions, etc.). With such 
insufficient and inaccurate clata it is not possible to conduct procedures for the 
acquisition of land for road constrnction. With the new survey which is being 
performed in accordance with land-cadastre regulations, the actual situation 
regarcling parcels in the corridor is being established (the coursc of the boundarics 
between properties, the area, actual type of use, etc.). Data which was established in 
the procedure of performing the new survey will be entered into the land cadastre 
ancl land register records and will become legally valid. 
The new survey apparently prolongs the tirne needed for preparations and makes _ them slightly more expensive, but other procedures for land acquisition will be 
considerably quicker in the la ter phases, since accurate data on land parcels which 
are subject to acquisition will be available. An essential advantage of the nev,1 survey 
is in the harmonization of all geodetic bases which are the condition for the 
preparation of site plans and maps of construction parcels. In the phase of 
preparation of site plans, the maps from the new survey will enable an accurate 
definition of building lines of roads and preparation of a list of parcels in the road 
corriclor, and the cakulation and presentation of accurate areas of parts of parcels 
which wi!l be used for roads. The harmonization of geodetic bases on the basis of 
which site plans are made also enables the building line to be transferred in digital or 
analogue form onto any other base. In the fina! phase, prior to the beginning of road 
construction, the building line and boundaries of the future road will be transferred 
to the field on the basis of accurate data with the obligatory presence of landowncrs. 
The division into parcels, decisions issued or contracts conduded on this basis will be 
accurate with regard to position, shape, area and ownership; consequently, there will 
be much fewer complaints by owners and, if any, they will be unsuccessfuL 
CONCLUS!ON 
ew land cadastre proceclures for the acquisition of real estate for the 
constrnction of highways proved to be better than those which were used in 
practice prior to that, and should be introduced also in other, more complex 
legal-property matters. Thc arrangement of the ownership of a few tens of thousands 
of kilormeters of existing roads stili remains the obligation of the state. Procedures 
Geodetski vestnik 40 (1996) 4 
have been determined and contracts are available; only the programme will need to 
be prepared and funds provided. 
Literature: 
DARS, Technical Conditions far the Perfonnance of Surveying and Division into Parce/s far the 
Needs of Road Construction and Reconstruction, 1992 
Law on Basic Geodetic Surveys. Official Gazette of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, 1974, No. 16 
Law on the Land Cadastre. Official Gaze/te of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, 1974, No. 16 
Law on the Land Register. Officia/ Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, 1995, No. 33 
Law on the Regulation of Cerlain Issues in Connec/ion with the Building of a Network of Highways 
in the Republic of Slovenia. Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, 1995, No. 35 
Proposed Law on Puhlic Roads. Poročevalec, 1996, No. 18 
Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Repub/ic of Slovenia, Geode/ic Bases and Work in Road 
Construction, 1995 
The artide was presented at the 3rd Slovene Congress on Roads and Traffic which 
took place in Bled from 13-15 November, 1996. 
Review: Dominik Bovha (in progress) 
Tone Kupic 
Geodetski vestnik 40 (1996) 4